dalmatians?--

[onthespot]

The dals I have had the pleasure of knowing... intelligent was not the first word that jumps to mind to describe them. Not that they are not snarky, sneaky, conniving and trash digging, shoe stealing, smile to your face and then take a pot roast OUT of the MICROWAVE, with the door closed to start with! But besides that, it is all about motivation. You have to make it seem like their idea, and let them earn a reward that is a good paycheck for that dog. Every dog is different, but I found dals like to be paid well and often to do what you want. Clicker, jerky, ball game, tug o war, find out their best thing and do reward promptly when they do right. And don't over do the re-runs or they will get bored and quit cold on you.

Edit, and Oh, change the spelling on the title. It is dalmatian. not dalmation. Like spelling a certain chicken breed, aumarakana

 

[Brindlebtch]

onthespot has it exactly right. And when teaching anything you will probably have the chance of 3 repetitions, max. Compared to a border collie or heeler, uh, 'dumb as a stump' comes to mind as a way you might describe a dal. OK, that may be too harsh, but make sure you do a lot of 'focus on me' games and exercises first thing.

 

[abluechipstock]

look on breeders.net you can put your zip code in and the ones closest to you will come up, make sure you buy reputable and not backyard, these dogs are neurotic and it's from bad breeding

 

[onthespot]

They were also bred by gypsies in Europe for hundreds of years. The gypsies would go from town to town and do their shows, work their deals. A lot of the towns they stopped at loved the shows, but the gypsies themselves not so much, and would burn or steal their stuff and run them out of town. The Dals doubled as part of the show, and also to guard their wagons with everything they had, whether their owners were home or not, and to follow the wagons wherever they went without being told to or tethered to it. Hence, energy to go all day, a tendency to be extremely protective/agressive, and you can train them for small, short skits of carefully guided behavior with a lot of reinforcement and a desire to be close to their people at all times. Just because Disney made an animated movie about Cruella DeVille and a hundred and one of them getting lost and found again, and Pongo and all... doesn't change centuries of breeding and selection for the above traits. People see those cute cartoons and don't give one thought to where the dogs originated from, what they were used for, or how they really are. Toss into the mix show people who like to win at any cost and there is a recipe for disaster in there somewhere. Not everyone bred for conformation only, but it has now been enough generations that bad tempers could have been greatly bred out by now if the breeders had made it a priority. Look at bulldogs for example. VERY friendly, family friendly dogs for the most part. Bred down from something that could and would take down a full grown angry bull or large carnivore.

 

[dinahmoe]

onthespot-edited,thanks

ok so far it doesn't look to good.not any good things yet.this is why i wanted real peoples opinions,-thanks everyone

we are planning on getting a dog in the spring and i wanted a bigger dog than my heelers.just have to like my family and animals(horses,chickens) thats why i thought about dalmatians.doesn't have to like everybody..i want it to be protective of my kids esp.
my heelers just want to work.when my son walks off in the woods i want a dog to be with him ya know.the heelers stay with the horses and me(they were mine before i had kids..a lab won't be protective enough(i think) and a rotti is on my list as possibilities.maybe a stock dog-tho i want it to play not just work-like the heelers.
anyone have any other breed suggestions?

 

[dlolato]

I have had many dogs in my lifetime and they have all died of old age or illness......never selling any once I made to commitment to care for them. We purchased a dalmation twelve years ago when our youngest son was ten years old assuming it would be a good dog for him to run and play with. Well, it didn't turn out that way, the dog became my "buddy" and I took him to work every day (owned a business) and he traveled with us all over the country. He was the best dog ever, and when he died with liver disease at eleven, I had him cremated. I even had a liver operation which extended his life for another eleven months after surgery.

Granted, when he was young, he had a high energy level, but with training and discipline, that can be controlled. They must have a place where they can free run to dispell some of that energy. They certainlly should never be kept in an apartment or small yard. My belief with any animal, they only become what you are willing to put into their life in the form of love and training. They are no different then raising a child and how many mis-behaved, and disrespectful children are out there today???

In comparing him to the female Dalmatian that we currently still have (14 yrs old), he was by far the more intelligent. He would listen to all our conversations and in most cases we would have to spell in front of him when it was something we didn't want him to know. I truly miss him and would not hesitate to purchase another!

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
thats what i was afraid of.

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
thank you.i can tell how much you loved him.
thats why i am doing this.i want to make sure cause i plan on commiting to the dog.it brought a tear to my eye when you said you had to spell in front of him,i used to have to do that with my first dog-she died in 2000.i miss her.i had her cremated also.

 

[CMV]

I have never owned a Dalmatian myself, but have known 2 personally through friends. One was a very pretty female who was one of the most vicious dogs I have come across. She was shot by the neighbors when she attacked their child and then killed their dog, who was trying to protect the child. She barked all the time, was essentially unable to be trained and her favorite habit was to leap through screened windows and doors to chase things down. She had attacked several dogs and killed several cats in the neighborhood before the final incident. The day she attacked the neighbors' child she went through a plate glass window to get to the child. I was actually happy that someone put a bullet in that dog. I just wish the owners had heeded everyone's words before a child was mauled by their horrible dog. The second Dal I knew was a pretty poor example of the breed- shaped all wrong, overweight and deaf as a post. He was also as dumb as a post. He was very sweet, though. A big lug. He lived out his life in relative ease and died at a ripe old age. He was easy to train despite being completely deaf and pretty dumb because he was very people oriented and food motivated. He was a good dog and the owners loved him dearly.

I hope this has helped. Dalmatians- like every other breed- have its good and its bad. The two dogs in my life could not have been more different. Good luck.

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
thanks-
i don't mind protective aggression but pure aggerssion is not tolerable.
my experience with the few i have known has been kinda like yours-either really good sweet dogs or really bad ones.the problems is how would i know which i was getting as a puppy.